Synchronizer



F. F. KISH LIN E July 11, 1950 SYNCHRONIZER Filed June 16, 1945 R O T N E V N FLOYD F. KISHLINE HI ATTORNEY Patented July 11, 1950 and SYNCHRONIZ'ER.

Floyd F. Kishline, Kenosha, Wis., assignor. to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Kenosha, Wis a corporation of Maryland ApplicationrJunelfi, 1945, Serial No. 599,885

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in transmission gearing and more particularly to intermediate speed clutch, devices used in automobile transmissions.

It is an object of this invention to. provide means whereby the shifting v of gears in a transmission will be facilitated.

It is another object of. this invention to provide means. reducing the. amount; of manual effort required to shift the. gears in an automobile transmission.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means which will efiiciently synchronize the speeds of the transmission gears during shifting operations.

Further objects and'advantages of this invention will be apparent froma consideration of the following description and the attached drawings, of which there is onesheet, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partially in section, of a power transmission of an automobile;

Figure 2 represents a plan View of a friction cone driving disc; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line 33- of Figure 2- and looking, in the. direction of the arrows.

In Figure 1 is illustrated the conventional type of automotive transmission known to the art at the present. time havinga case. Ill which is secured to the bell clutch housing (not shown) Trans.- mission, case I!) is provided with a cover 12 and the. transmission within the. case It] consists of a main shaft IA journaledina bearing I5 which is secured in the rear wall of case It and a countershaft [6 which is fastin the walls of case l0.

Rotatively supported upon the countershaft i6 is the usual countershaft gear cluster generally indicated at it, the gears of which are in con.- stant mesh with gear 2% which is rotatively supported upon the main shaft l4 and with a gear '22 formed upon the clutch shaft 2t which extends from the bell clutch housing into the transmission case Iii. The clutch shaft 24 is. journaled in a ball bearing 25 supported in the forward wall of the transmission case it and is provided with a hole 28 inits rearward end within which roller bearings 36 are positioned for rotatively support.- ing the forward end 32 of the main shaft I l.

Generally indicated at 34 is a jaw clutch by means of which the main shaft M is selectively connected either directly to the clutch shaft 24 through its high speed clutch teeth 33 for a direct drive connection or to the gear 20 through its intermediate speed gear teeth 38 for a second speed drive through the countershaft gear 2 cluster l8. Gear teeth 36 are cut around the outer surface of flange 4.11 on the rearward endof clutch shaft 2d. Intermediate speed clutch gear teeth 38 are formed on the; outer surface of intermediate gear adjacent. the jaw clutch 34.

It will be noted that. the, gear 20; is rotatively supported on the. main shaft M by a sleeve d2 of bearing material and is held. against. axial movement forwardly along the shaft I l-by means of a snap-ring 44 which. isfitted within a groove cut. in the main shaft 14. The other side of gear 26 abuts the forward end of the; enlarged splined portion 4.6 of: main shaft M.

The jaw clutch mechanism 35- has an outer collar 48, the inner surface of which is defined by gear teeth 50.. The clutch collar :18 is. in toothed engagementwith ahub member 52 which is in slidablez-splined engagement with the splined portion Eilof main shaft M. A plurality of spring pressed balls fifirare mounted about the periphery of the hub 52 and centrally thereof. Said balls are normally adapted to engage in the centrally disposed recesses fisformed in the surfaces of the teeth 50- and positioned opposite said balls 56. The balls 56-, when engaged within recesses 5.3, resist axial shifting movement of collar 48:- over hub 52'. Hub 52 has opposite axially extending portions tillon the outer periphery of which are formed gear teeth 62 which are in constant engagement with, gear teeth Sfiof collar .3.

Flange N3 of clutch shaft 24 hasv a fiat peripheral surface 6A disposed at an angle from the axis of said clutch shaft 24.. Positioned between surface 64 and axially extending portion 61b of hub 52 is a friction cone member 6.8 which has a flat angular surface 65 designed" to engage the surface 64 of flange-'49. Gone. 56. has an upwardly extending portion it abutting the outer end of portion 60.

As. collar 4.8; is shifted-- forward-1y to facilitate engagement between its internal teeth 5t and gear. 35., hub 52Wi11 be moved therewith due to the resistance. of balls 5E3, thereby pushing the Eat surface 68 into-engagement with the surface 54 0f clutch shaft 24; Thefrictional engagement between these-two members will tend to synchronize the rotative speeds of the main shaft M and said clutch shaft 2d, thereby facilitating an easy engagement between the clutch collar it-and gear 33 to form a direct drive through the transmission.

It hasbeen found that if frictionv cone 6-5 is secured to the hub-52; the engagement of, cone 5.5 with surface 64 will cause additional torque to be applied to the forward side of hub 52', thereby disc 12. Disc 12 as shown in Figure 2 is internally splined as at M to create a splined engagement ting member, a means for synchronizing said members comprising a first jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said first member, a second jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said second member and axially movable thereon into positive engagement with said first jaw clutch element, a semi-free floating friction clutch element for frictionally engaging said jaw clutch elements when said second element is moved to engage said first element, a driving member rigidly secured on said second torque between said disc and the splined portion .54 of I main shaft I l. Disc 12 is held in position on the portion 54 of shaft M by snap rings 16 positioned on either side of disc 12 within a series of grooves in said portion 54 of shaft M. 7

From the outer periphery of disc 72 extendseries of slightly axially bent portions 11 of said dis into a series of slots 18 formed in the side of friction cone 66 which is nearer the hub 52. In this manner when the mainshaft M is rotated, disc 12 will be rotatively driven thereby, carrying friction cone 65 with it.

In a like manner, the speed of main shaft i4 is synchronized with the speed of intermediate gear 20 when the operator wishes to engage clutch collar 48 with intermediate clutch gear 38.

On the forward side of gear 28 is formed a flange 80, on the outer periphery of which is formed a fiat angular surface 82 which is designed to engage with the fiat angular surface 84 of friction cone 85 which is positioned between the rearwardly extending portion 60 of hub 52 and the surface 82 of gear 20.

A metal disc 88 identical to disc 72 is secured on portion 54 of shaft M and held against snap ring 44 by a snap ring 90 secured in grooves on portion 54. Friction cone 88 is driven by shaft l4 through disc 88 with its series of portions H in the same manner as described above in regard to friction cone E6 and in this manner the rotative movement of shaft M and its clutch collar 48 is synchronized in regard to the rotative speed of clutch shaft 24 and its gear 38 so that engagement of gear 38 by collar 48 may be facilitated.

It will be understood that a dual use of the invention is shown in the drawings and that the invention as shown on either side of hub 52 is independent of the other; i. e., disc 12 and cone 56 do not depend on disc 88 and cone 86 for aid in synchronizing shafts M and 24 when collar 48 is moved toward engagement with gear 36. Either of the uses of the invention shown can be used independently of the other.

While I have described my invention in some detail, I intend this description to be an example only and not limiting on my invention, to which I make the following claims:

1. In a transmission synchronizer, a first torque transmitting member, a second torque transmitting member, a synchronizing mechanism therefor comprising a first jaw clutch element drivingly mounted and slidable on said first member, a second jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said second torque transmitting member and designed to be engaged by said first element, an axially free floating friction clutch element adaptted to frictionally engage said jaw clutch elements when said first jaw clutch element is moved toward engagement with said second element, a disc-like driving means rigidly secured around said first torque transmitting, member for driving said friction clutch element.

2. In a transmission synchronizer, a first torque transmitting member, a second torque transmittransmitting member, and a lost-motion connection between said driving member and said friction clutch.

3. In a power transmission, a first torque transmitting member, a second torque transmitting member, a means for synchronizing said members comprising a first jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said first member, a second jaw clutch element secured around said second member and axially movable thereon into positive engagement with said first jaw clutch element, a friction clutch element for engaging said jaw clutch elements as said second jaw clutch element is moved toward engagement with said first jaw clutch element, a disc-like driving element for said friction clutch element on said second torque transmitting member and rigidly secured thereto, a series of notches in said friction clutch element, and outwardly extending dogs of said disc-like element extending into said notches to form a semi-free floating driving connection between said disc-like element and said friction clutch element.

4. In a power transmission, a first torque transmitting member, a second torque transmitting member, synchronizer means for said members comprising a first jaw clutch element formed on said first torque transmitting member, a second jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said first member, a third jaw clutch element drivingly positioned around said second torque transmitting member and axially movable thereon into positive engagement with said first or second jaw clutch element, a pair of semi-free floating friction clutch elements, one positioned between said first jaw clutch element and said third jaw clutch element and the other positioned between said second jaw clutch element and said third jaw clutch element to frictionally engage said elements as the third jaw clutch element is moved to engage the first or second jaw clutch element. and a pair of means rigidly secured to said sec ond torque transmitting member, one drivingly associated with each of said friction clutch elements.

5'. In a power transmission, a first torque transmitting member, a second torque transmitting member, synchronizer means for said members comprising a first jaw clutch element formed on said first torque transmitting member, a second jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said first member, a third jaw clutch element around said second member drivingly secured thereto and movable thereon into positive engagement with either said first or second jaw clutch element, a pair of semi-free floating friction clutch means, one positioned on either side of said third jaw clutch element between said third element and the first and second jaw clutch elements for engaging said elements as said third element is moved to engage either said first or second element, a pair of disc-like driving members for said friction clutch means rigidly secured on said second torque transmitting member on either side of said third jaw clutch element, and a lost-motion. com

iiection between each friction clutch member and the associated driving member.

6. In a power transmission, a drive shaft, a driven shaft, a jaw clutch element formed on said drive shaft, a jaw clutch element drivingly associated with said driven shaft and adapted to be moved into positive engagement with the jaw clutch element of the drive shaft, a semi-free floating friction clutch means positioned between said jaw clutch elements, and a member directly 10 secured to one of said drive or driven shafts and drivingly engaged with said friction clutch means.

FLOYD F. KISHLINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file or this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,913,162 Keller June 6, 1933 2,022,095 Thompson Nov. 26, 1935 2,043,806 Murray June 9, 1936 2,048,883 Murray July 28, 1936 

